Thiim Tremendous after Tumultuous Austrian Opener

QPOD Walter Lechner Racing’s Nicki Thiim came out on top after a tumultuous ninth race of the 2014 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, a race in which the Danish driver was confirmed as the winner despite not crossing the finishing line first.

Norbert Siedler looked set to make the opening encounter at the Red Bull Ring his own, starting his Wotec Racing car from pole position. He was dealt a double blow before the first tour of the circuit was completed. Firstly, Team Deutsche Post by Project 1 driver Philipp Eng made a better getaway and was able to lead as the pack streamed through turn one.

As the field filed through onto the second lap, race control issued Siedler with a drive through penalty, for being out of position on the grid. The Austrian summed the situation up succinctly, saying “It is not exactly I had imagined it.”

Meanwhile, up at the front, Eng was in dominant form and charged towards victory. However, it is a victory that for now will not be recorded in the history books. An appeal made against a decision taken by the stewards, meant that Eng was racing under appeal and therefore, in spite of being allowed to race his results are not counted. To confuse matters even more, if the appeal is successful, the Austrian native’s results will be declared. Therefore, all results from the action in Austria are provisional.

For the purposes of simplicity, it is best to ignore Eng’s performance, impressive as it was and to focus on the fight behind. The defacto fight for the lead. Thiim would lead Porsche International Cup Scholarship driver Earl Bamber (Team 75 Bernhard) and Eng’s teammate, one of the several Porsche Juniors, Sven Müller in a hectic fight for position.

The three were effectively tied together from around half way through the race and with only two laps remaining, Bamber attempted a decisive move. It proved unsuccessful and the trio crossed the line in the same order, yet all were beaming following what had proved to be a classic motor racing battle.
“It was an unbelievable race,” exclaimed Thiim, “Great fun.” Bamber concurred, adding “What a fantastic race!”

Alex Riberas (Attempto Racing powered by Hӓring) and Connor de Phillippi (FӦRCH Racing by Lukas Motorsport) were the less successful Porsche Juniors this time around. The Spaniard achieved a ninth place finish and the American fell one position outside the top ten; both results listed ignoring Eng’s presence in the race.

Riberas though, was looking forward to race two of the weekend on Sunday. “I start from pole position,” he noted. Can the talented yet luckless youngster finally break his duck?